Looks Can Be Deceiving

Today's outdoor adventure occurred a couple of years ago and reminds me that looks can be deceiving.

The house was in great need of new paint.  It had been eight years since it was last painted and the weather had taken its toll, causing the paint to fade and peel.  Some of the wood was like new, some just needed old paint scraped off and other pieces of wood were in such bad shape that they need to be replaced.

The temperature outside was near 100 degrees.  Add the Oklahoma humidity to that temperature, and it felt like 110 degrees.  This made painting the house a daunting task.  In those conditions, my only thoughts were how quickly I could get the job done.  I would paint an area where boards should have been repaired, but were not because of the heat and amount of work involved.  I stepped back to look at my handy work and thought, "looking at the house from the road, the new paint looks pretty good."  I thought that folks driving by the house would appreciate the look of the fresh paint.  I knew; however, that looks can be deceiving and the new paint was only a temporary cosmetic fix to a bigger problem that would have to be fixed in the near future.

This outdoor adventure made me think about our lives, and especially our lives as Christians.  Do we look "great" when people see us . . . physically fit, well groomed and organized like we have it all together.  Then, upon a closer look and getting to know each other, we actually see the scars left from different life experiences. Scars of hurting hearts that need mending or of hopes and dreams that need to be fulfilled.  

As Christians it is not always easy to let others see us up close, with our "peeling paint and broken boards."  We don't want to be like the house I was painting and only look good from a distance. We don't want our appearance as a Christian to be deceiving.  Should it not be our goal to look as good up close and personal as we do from a distance?

1 Peter 3:3-5New King James Version (NKJV)
3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— 4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 

1 Samuel 16:7New King James Version (NKJV)
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees;[a] for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”